Sommer, Michael Dark Rome. Das geheime Leben der Römer

In this book, ancient historian Michael Sommer provides an exciting and fact-filled look into the abysses of Roman antiquity. On his forays, Sommer tells of brutal power struggles and gruesome crimes. An entertaining "look through the keyholes of ancient Rome". On the road in an unknown antiquity: Was Marcus Aurelius a drug addict? Allegedly, the philosopher-emperor consumed opium. Did Archimedes, the ingenious master builder from Syracuse, actually construct a superweapon? And did a secret lodge even meet in the subterranean basilica that archaeologists discovered in Rome's underworld?

These and many other mysteries await the readers of "Dark Rome" - a morality tale of the Roman world that is as wild as it is fact-filled and exciting. They encounter poisoners and magicians, ancient security specialists and undercover agents who risked their own lives and those of their contemporaries on top-secret missions. Many of them were entangled in affairs of state, brutal power struggles, tangible scandals, political intrigues and perfidious assassinations - and even the Palatine, emperor's residence since the days of the strict moral Augustus, often enough became the scene of gruesome crimes. Take a look into the abysses of Roman antiquity with "Dark Rome" and get to know a side of the Romans that will seem both strange and strangely familiar to you!